Slashdot Mirror
The DDR Workout - It's Official
webster1 writes with a followup to a recent Ask Slashdot question. "An AP news story just released says that Dance Dance Revolution is becoming the weight-loss routine of choice for many young gamers. One quote says '"At first I was playing it for fun, but when you see results you're like, Yeah!" said Matt Keene, a 19-year-old from Charleston, South Carolina, who used to weigh more than 350 pounds and wear pants with a 48-inch waist.' It's for grown-ups too. Even Jason Enos, product manager at Konami Digital Entertainment-America, which distributes the game in the U.S., has lost 30 pounds playing the game. There's even a site for DDR wieght loss fans: www.getupmove.com - My wife and I have been playing for months now with this goal in mind, though we aren't yet seeing these results." (A post from a few months ago talks about getupmove and gives some calorie-burn specifics.)
This is the perfect time to plug StepMania, an open source version you can get here. I'm not a developer, just someone that enjoys short techno songs and a frantic workout.
You zap the moderators with a wand of humor! The moderators resist!
I'm not saying DDR can't work for weight loss, or that getupmove.com or the AP story aren't valid. However, the site is run by RedOctance, a DDR pad supplier. Check out the contact information for getupmove.com or the suggested pads under 'Get Started.'
Again, I'm not denying the posibilities of using DDR for weight loss. After the Ask Slashdot thread I downloaded StepMania and am seriously considering buying a pad and USB adapter becasue it does look like tons of fun. I just think it's important to be concious of where you're getting your information...
-Trillian
There is a free software version of DDR, written in Python. It used to be called PyDDR but now it's called PyDance.
You can play it with a real dance pad, or just play it with your keyboard. I suspect you will not lose much weight if you play it with your keyboard, however.
http://icculus.org/pyddr/
steveha
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
Most slashdot readers probably already have atleast an original Playstation (and if not, used ones can be had for around $20 to $30 or the computer version of DDR can be used). Throw in the cost of a good dance pad (~$50) and the game (another $20 to $30), and your workout system only costs you ~$100, including the cost for a Playstation.
I suggest a dance pad like the one above, because the form insert really helps cut down on the strain on your joints (a must if you are going to be DDRing often as a workout)
Read the first goddamn line of the writeup. Specifically the part where it says that it is a followup to the story you linked to. Yes, slashdot is sponsored by a fucking game. You figured it out.
The biggest problem for most computer gamers I know, is that they drink cola with sugar and eat candy bars. Their biggest arguments for not drinking diet coke are: doesn't taste well, aspartam is dangerous for your health.
:-)
They simply don't get the priorities right - being overweight is much more dangerous than drinking diet coke! The only way to lose weight is to consume less kilojoule (4,18 Joule = 1 Calories for those Americans who don't understand the metric system) than you spend on living. If you want to continue drinking sugar-cola and eat candie bars, you really have to do a lot of exercise!!! - more than most people with that kind of weight problems can or will do.
Personally I lost 15kg in 5 months without doing any exercise, without any special plan for what I eat, just by replacing coke with diet coke and removing all fat and sugar from my meals, replacing food with low-energy and diet products. At Christmas 2004 I expect to have lost 30kg, and spring 2005 I expect to have lost 35kg, and then I have reached my ideal bodyweight and will have to do something to keep my weight up
No, but there are hidden codes, at least on older mixes.
On 3rd mix, to play Maniac difficulty (called SSR for Step Step Revolution), you had to do "left left left right right right left right" on the select arrows before beginning the game. Then you probably wanted it on vivid (rather than the default of flat) which was "left right left left right right left right" on the actual pad.
There's a whole bunch of other hidden options too (hidden, sudden, stealth, turn, etc). The codes are readily available, but can be hard to remember, especially if you normally play newer mixes (DDRMAX and newer have an options screen) that don't need them.
I agree with you but why stop there?
I recently decided to stop drinking soft drinks and go for water (Mountain Valley Spring Water), and I also noticed that I had much more concentration, my sleep schedule became more normalized and my attitude was generally more positive.
It's not just sugar. It's the myriad of chemicals that we put in our bodies in massive quantities that screw up our body chemistry. Dropping sugar may help with caloric intake, but it doesn't address the more serious problem that we're constantly poisoning our bodies with chemicals.
You don't have to be a vegan, but you can choose to shop where they sell meat and produce that isn't bathed in pesticides, antibiotics and other things.